Next story in The Ed Show

ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC ANCHOR: Good evening, Americans, and welcome to THE ED SHOW tonight, live from Minneapolis.

These stories on the table and hitting “My Hot Buttons” at this hour.

President Obama goes to Nevada, trying to save Harry Reid. Can he stop the $40 million money machine behind Sharron Angle?

Senator Sherrod Brown joins us to talk about the get-out-the-vote effort across the country for the Democrats. Will it be enough?

Jim DeMint and Eric Cantor and Fox News are taking aim at NPR for firing Juan Williams. The free market is at work and the righties are complaining about it? Congressman Keith Ellison, one of two Muslims in the Congress, will join us later on in the show.

And a congressional candidate, believe it or not, down in Texas actually says that a violent overthrow of the government should be on the table. How enlightening and how positive. We‘ll show you the tape. You won‘t believe it. And “Rapid Fire Response” on that.

And Bill Clinton is coming to Minnesota to campaign against Michele Bachmann. I love it.

But this is the story that has me fired up tonight. Hours from now, President Obama will be in Nevada to “man up” for Harry Reid. Sharron Angle, she is still hitting Harry Reid below the belt. After Angle and I bumped into one another at the airport yesterday, then she went on to team up with Newt Gingrich to take another shot at Harry Reid‘s manhood.

And we‘re saying tonight, and on November 2nd, and every day of early voting, man up, Harry Reid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: She‘s just so goofy. She has no material.

And Harry Reid isn‘t sitting down taking these cheap shots at all. Angle doesn‘t have a leg to stand on when it comes to the issues, so she‘s decided to make this election about gutter politics. Harry showed he still knows how to throw a punch when he spoke with us yesterday in Las Vegas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: People in Nevada know me. From the street to the ring to the Senate chambers, I‘ve never had to prove my manhood to anyone.

SCHULTZ: Well, we‘re going to find out. Reid was as animated as I have ever seen him in a interview. Reid calls Angle “dangerous,” “extreme,” an “embarrassment to the state of Nevada.” Well, Karl Rove is from that state. A lot of people don‘t know that, but Rove is from the state of Nevada.

He wants to take down the second Democratic leader in six years. You know, kind of put it on his resume, because it will mean a lot if Rove can get this done. He will be the man for decades to come on how to run campaigns for the Republicans.

Well, Rove and his cronies have dumped $40 million trying to Daschlize Reid. Reid is accusing Angle of being a flat-out liar.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: So she‘s lied about you?

REID: Oh, has she lied about me.

SCHULTZ: Sharron Angle has lied about Harry Reid?

REID: And fact-checkers prove it. Her anti-immigrant ads that she‘s run are baseless, without any foundation. The things she said about my family, without any truth and veracity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Angle‘s buddies in the conservative media are also lying about my interview with Senator Reid. They love to take things out of context to make Reid look as bad as possible.

Take a look at how Drudge, “The Drudge Report,” cherry-picked the interview. It reads, “But for me, we‘d be in a worldwide depression.”

America‘s other biggest online liar, Andrew Breitbart, posted the same headline with video clips that take Reid completely out of the context.

But this is the reason why Harry Reid doesn‘t do a lot of national interviews. Let the commercials do the talking and talk straight to the people.

Folks, this race is the epicenter of the midterm election, and conservatives are going all out to bounce Harry Reid out of the Senate.

Now, Nevada basically has become the land of lies and distortions in this campaign season. Sharron Angle has proven one thing to the voters, she has absolutely no integrity, she doesn‘t care about the facts, and it‘s all about tearing people down.

In her interview and in her debate with Harry Reid, it was just generic sound bite after generic sound bite. People in Nevada don‘t care about Harry Reid‘s manhood. They care about jobs.

Just today, “The Las Vegas Review-Journal” reported that unemployment, that rate, has jumped to 15 percent in the city of Las Vegas. Sharron Angle says that government shouldn‘t be in the business of creating jobs even at 15 percent? She wants to put the shutdown on the Department of Energy, which would cost that state tens of thousands of jobs.

Harry Reid is right, Sharron Angle is dangerous. If you‘re in the Energy Department, is that what you want to hear if you work in Nevada? Angle and the Tea Party, they want to destroy the government and let the free market pick up all of the pieces.

What free market? The ones controlled by the top two percent?

In the meantime, Angle, Newt, and Drudge, they‘re trying to convince voters this election is all about Harry‘s manhood. America doesn‘t have time to argue about manhood. We need serious leaders and real ideas to move this country forward, and I can tell you, there is an angst amongst the people in Nevada right now.

I think the turnout is going to be terrific. Yesterday, Harry Reid told me that they have never had this kind of turnout ever effort-wise in the state of Nevada. Let‘s see if it works. And, of course, the president going there, it should make a difference.

Get your cell phones out, folks. I want to know what you think about tonight‘s top story.

The text survey question is: Do you think Sharron Angle lies about Harry Reid? Text “A” for yes, text “B” for no to 622639. We‘ll bring you the results later on in show.

Now, I do believe that there is this talk-down culture that is taking place across the country. We have all these surveys out there that say, well, there‘s a hundred House races in play. And that‘s almost like, gee, well, don‘t go out and vote because it‘s all over with.

Folks, we‘ve got a long way to go before Election Day. We‘ve got minimum of 10, maybe 20 news cycles to go.

Let‘s turn now to the battle in the House. Joining me now is Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen, chairman of the DCCC.

Congressman, good to have you with us tonight.

REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD), CHAIRMAN, DCCC: Good to be with you, Ed.

SCHULTZ: I believe that there‘s a talk-down culture that‘s being developed by the right-wing talkers that this is over, the takeover in the House has taken place. I want it straight from you.

Are there actually a hundred races that are in play that the Democrats could actually lose? What do you think of that?

VAN HOLLEN: No, Ed, it‘s nonsense. I mean, they‘re talking about seats like John Dingell. John Dingell is well ahead.

They‘re just trying to do exactly what you said. They‘re trying to suppress the Democratic vote turnout, and it‘s not working, because what we‘ve seen from some of these early returns in states like Indiana and Iowa and North Carolina is that the Democrats are voting in larger numbers than were predicted by all these pundits. They‘re proving the pundits wrong in the vote by mail, as well as the early in-person voting, and that‘s because voters get it.

They get the fact that all these corporations are dumping money, the secret money, into these races because they want to buy a Congress that will do the bidding of the special interests and enact things like the Republican plan to privatize Medicare and privatize Social Security.

SCHULTZ: Yes.

VAN HOLLEN: They‘ll make a lot of money off of that.

SCHULTZ: What do you make of the early voting that‘s taken place? Over three million Democrats across the country have already gone to the polls. A lot of voting.

Of course, this is going to be a big weekend in Harry Reid‘s state, obviously. But in some key districts around the country, like in Ohio and in the Rust Belt, ,where the unemployment has hit and manufacturing jobs have been gone, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin, what about the turnout to vote? What about the early voting?

How important is that going to be for the Democrats?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, it‘s very important, because early voting gives more people an opportunity to get to the polls. Working people who, you know, work a morning shift and a night shift, this allows them that longer period of time to vote, to exercise their right to get out there and cast their ballot.

And what we‘re seeing again, Ed—I mean, obviously it‘s preliminary, but it‘s very positive—is that the Democrats are, number one, asking for ballots in greater numbers than their numbers would suggest in many of these districts, and they‘ve begun to return them in greater numbers.

So, all this stuff, all of this voter suppression effort, is not working. And people are really focusing on the stakes in this election.

I think that‘s what happened, is, look, you‘ve had the Tea Party movement, they‘ve been complaining for 20 months, while, you know, the president and the Congress have been working hard to try to get the country back on its feet after eight years of special interests running the show. And now people get it --

VAN HOLLEN: -- because they see all of those special interests that have had their power reined in trying to buy back a Congress.

SCHULTZ: It sure looks like the White House gets it. It sure looks like Bill Clinton gets it. It sure likes like Joe Biden gets it.

I mean, you have got three of the most visible Democrats working as hard as I have ever seen Democrats work. You‘d think that this was a presidential.

Now, we‘ve seen the president go around the country, and there is some rebounding taking place. Are you seeing this in some of the House races where President Obama‘s having an effect as well?

VAN HOLLEN: Yes, indeed, Ed. We‘re seeing that enthusiasm rise. And again, it‘s reflected in some of the early voting patterns that we‘re seeing.

We‘re getting great turnouts to—for all of our volunteer canvasses around the country. So the energy is there.

It may have come a little late to the game, but the fact of the matter is, it‘s coming out now in big numbers. And so we‘re very, very positive about what‘s happening right now.

As you said, the president, the former president, everybody‘s out there, our candidates are out there. And people are very—you know, when people think about what it would mean to have Joe Barton, the guy who apologized to BP when we held them accountable, to have him in charge of the energy policy, or to have the guys who wrote the plan to privatize Medicare, which would be great for the insurance industry, but very lousy for seniors, when they realize what‘s at stake, they are getting energized and mobilized. And it‘s just important that we get that story out so we put an end to these tax breaks that have benefited the multinational corporations that ship American jobs overseas and that kind of thing.

Those special interests are fighting back. People don‘t like what they see. They don‘t like all this secret money. And it‘s been a wakeup call.

SCHULTZ: Congressman, good to have you with us tonight. Have a great weekend. I appreciate your time.

And it‘s officially the witching hour for Christine O‘Donnell. She‘s casting her spell on all the righties after a full week of bloopers. I‘ll explain that in the “Playbook.”

And George W. Bush, I think he fails to tell us what his biggest failure actually was.

Clarence Thomas‘ ex speaks out with a shocking porn claim.

You‘re watching THE ED SHOW on MSNBC. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW and thanks for watching tonight.

A toxic envelope covered in Nazi swastikas and white powder was sent to Congressman Raul Grijalva‘s office. The FBI is investigating where it came from and who was involved.

This is the third time this year he‘s been targeted. He got death threats for speaking out in opposing Jan Brewer‘s racial profiling law in Arizona. And in July, someone shot a bullet through the window of his office.

You know, we just have never seen this kind of hateful stuff during this election cycle. Not in my lifetime. Conservatives are fueling the hate with disgusting commercials and dangerous rhetoric on the airwaves.

Now some psycho has decided to turn his anger into action. Every Republican should be condemning these assaults, this type of activity against any elected official, left, right, blue, green, center, whatever. But their silence is absolutely deafening.

Congressman Raul Grijalva joins me now here on THE ED SHOW.

Congressman, good to have you with us tonight.

REP. RAUL GRIJALVA (D), ARIZONA: Good to be here, Ed.

SCHULTZ: What is your response to this constant barrage of harassment? And now this threat is pretty much taken to a new level. What‘s your response to all of this, Congressman? And how‘s your office handling it?

GRIJALVA: Well, the office is handling it fine. There‘s good people there. We‘re open. We‘re taking care of constituents.

But it‘s a pattern, and it‘s a pattern of intimidation. And when you have a campaign filled with distortion, filled with division, where you feed hatred, then people feel that are on the extreme that they have impunity, that they can do something as harsh and as stupid and as vile of this. You know, I‘m asking my Republican colleagues across the state to condemn this kind of domestic terrorism.

The electoral process is what it is. I‘m in a tough race. I know that. And—but it‘s a race about ideas and it‘s a race about effort. But to add insult to injury, to bring threats, to bring intimidation into the process, it needs to be condemned for what it is. It‘s domestic terrorism.

SCHULTZ: Congressman, let me ask you, you say that you‘re calling on Republican colleagues across the state to condemn this. Have you personally called Jon Kyl or John McCain? I know that they took a commercial out against you. All‘s fair in love and war, I guess, but the fact is, is that they want to get you out.

Have you personally spoken with them to condemn this kind of activity?

SCHULTZ: But it just seems unusual that you would be so targeted like this. Why is it you? Why are you getting this and not other congressional members?

What is it about Raul Grijalva that they don‘t like? And why are you being targeted? What‘s your answer for that?

GRIJALVA: Well, I‘m a lightning rod. I‘ve spoken out nationally against this law in Arizona. I‘ve spoken out nationally about immigration reform in a comprehensive way. I‘ve spoken out nationally about the fact that we‘re in this mess because of George Bush.

And I‘m co-chair of the Progressive Caucus. I‘m a convenient target. You take me down, you take down a philosophy and you take down a set of values that are in Congress right now.

I understand that. That‘s why we‘re having the kind of race that we‘re having. And that‘s why we are going to work as hard as we can to make sure that we reaffirm that what I stand for is not just about me, it‘s about a whole bunch of people in this country.

SCHULTZ: Congressman, good to have you with us tonight. I appreciate your time on THE ED SHOW. All the best to you.

SCHULTZ: And in “Psycho Talk” tonight, former president George W. Bush is plugging his new book about his time in the White House. You know, he seems to remember those eight years a little different than I think most Americans will.

At an event in Chicago, he said his greatest failure as president was not passing Social Security reform. Now, think about that. How delusional is that? He thinks the worst thing he did was not privatize Social Security.

Mr. President, let me remind you of some of your actual failures. How about leading us into a war that cost hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars and thousand of American lives based on this 16-word line --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: And here‘s another massive failure, George—letting the entire American city drown as you got a bird‘s eye view, and then patted your incompetent buddies on the back.

After eight years of disastrous Bush/Cheney policies that drove this country into a ditch, for George W. Bush to say his greatest failure was not privatizing Social Security, that is delusional “Psycho Talk.”

Coming up, Juan Williams gets a golden parachute, a brand-new deal from Fox, and conservatives are still going nuclear over the whole thing. What about all of the free market bull that they‘ve been serving up over the years about broadcasting?

Congressman Keith Ellison‘s going to be ripping into all of that just ahead.

And Sharron Angle runs from cameras and speaks through Fox. But she just shushed a reporter. I‘ll show you the tape and get “Rapid Fire Response.”

And a Tea Partier in Texas says a violent overthrow of the government, well, it ought to be on the table.

And Clarence Thomas‘ ex says he was obsessed with porn. I know it‘s a family show, but it is news.

You‘re watching THE ED SHOW on MSNBC. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW.

“The Battleground” story tonight, well, Jim DeMint and Eric Cantor are on a mission to financially nuke NPR. Free-market Republicans, well, they‘re outraged because National Public Radio fired Juan Williams after he said this on O‘Reilly show --

JUAN WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Look, Bill, I‘m night bigot. You know the kind of books I‘ve written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on a plane, I‘ve got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb, and I think, you know, they‘re identified themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: It sounds like Juan Williams needs to man up.

Less than 24 hours after NPR canned Williams, Fox News cut him a brand-new deal for $2 million a year. Williams will fit right in over at Fox. They love to bash Muslims.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN KILMEADE, “FOX & FRIENDS”: Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The truth is that Muslims tend to be more violent than Christians.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Critics argue when you think about it for the most part all of the people who have tried to blow airliners out of sky, pretty much look-alike.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: If you‘re an 18 to 28-year-old Muslim man then you should be strip-searched.

BILL O‘REILLY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: There is no question there is a Muslim problem in the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: DeMint and Cantor, the leaders of the Republicans in the House and the Senate, now they are taking Williams‘ firing to a whole new level. DeMint is going to introduce legislation to strip all of the NPR‘s public funding at seven percent of where they get their money from. Cantor says, defunding NPR will be part of the Republicans‘ you cut program. This isn‘t about Juan Williams, folks. It‘s not about Williams at all. It‘s about an opportunity for the right wing to shutdown NPR in any dissenting voices in this country. Juan Williams, he‘s just a tool and an opportunity in all of this.

You see the tan man put it like this. He said, quote, “We need to face facts. Our government is broke. Washington‘s borrowing 37 cents on every dollar it spends from our kids and grandkids. Given that, I think it‘s reasonable to ask why Congress is spending taxpayer money to support a left-wing radio network. And in the wake of Juan Williams‘ firing. It‘s clearer than ever, that‘s what NPR is.”

What? Folks, NPR is about as down the middle as you can get it. They‘ve said, don‘t go to this rally that Stewart and this other dude Colbert are having, right? I mean they don‘t want their correspondents there and think of another thing, do you really think John Boehner cares about Juan Williams and his career? I mean, come on now, isn‘t this the first free market at work? Every time a liberal broadcaster gets dumped, conservatives say well it‘s just the free market at work you know? They don‘t want to hear it. But when their guy gets dumped and they see an opportunity, ooh another, it‘s a whole different story.

Joining me now is Congressman Keith Ellison of Minnesota.

Congressman, good to have you with us tonight.

REP. KEITH ELLISON (D), MINNESOTA: Great to be here.

SCHULTZ: How psycho is it—how psycho is it to throw out the idea of not giving any funding to NPR? What are your thoughts on this?

ELLISON: Well, it‘s absolutely psycho, but the basic idea‘s they don‘t want anybody to hear anything other than FOX News. They don‘t want free and objective and open sources of news so people can make decisions. They want to have a monopoly on their perspective, which is absolutely wrong. You know I hope that people out there see this as a call to get involved and get involved in their government because there are people who don‘t want you to know what‘s going on, they just want you to have a FOX News perspective on everything. They even are afraid of NPR.

SCHULTZ: Now, Juan Williams comes out and says, well, they were looking for a reason to get rid of him anyway. Hello, welcome to the real world. There‘s millions of people out there that have gotten a pink slip in business and gotten no explanation as to why they got fired. I mean, I think the right wing is just using this as a big opportunity to squash dissenting voices or any kind of opinion that‘s out there, but his comment about getting on an airplane and being uneasy and I‘m paraphrasing here, being uneasy when he sees Muslims and those who have the Muslim attire, what‘s your response to that, congressman? You‘re a Muslim.

ELLISON: Well, would he be scared of my 14-year-old daughter who might wear a hair cover? Would he be scared of a Sikh, who is—probably doesn‘t even know the difference of a Sikh and a Muslim. I mean, it‘s just that ugly, bigoted statement and sadly Juan Williams has taken a back to all the work he‘s ever did around civil rights, you know, with eyes on the prize and things like that. I feel like taking that stuff off of my shelf and putting it in the garbage, because I just really feel he‘s dishonored his legacy to that extent. Juan Williams though in exchange of his bigotry was able to get a $2 million multiyear contract. So he‘s not going to go without, no matter what happens but I‘m very disappointed in Juan Williams and if he has any integrity at all, he will apologize profusely to the people of this country.

Let me just point out one more thing too, Ed. The people who got on that airline on 9/11, they made sure that they didn‘t have any so-called Muslim garb, whatever that is. They made sure that they were as mainstream-looking as they possibly could because they were trying to harm our country. So it‘s the people who are just practicing their faith or their culture more likely, these people aren‘t any danger to our country. These folks are minding their own business, by and large, and should not be bothered at all. But that fact is that it‘s people like Juan Williams who contribute to profiling, harassing Americans who may happen to be from diverse, different sorts of backgrounds, it‘s really an ugly thing. I think it‘s un-American what Juan Williams said, and I think that NPR‘s well within its rights to make a decision that his perspective is not one that is—is down—down the middle and calls the facts like they really are and provide this good news service to the American people.

SCHULTZ: Congressman, you‘re right on the mark. I also should point out that if those folks over at FOX News are so concerned about whether Juan Williams is going to be on the air again, why don‘t they just support the fairness doctrine and then all sides will always get their fair choice and their fair time on the air.

ELLISON: You and I both know the last thing that they want is the fairness doctrine.

SCHULTZ: Keith Ellison, always a pleasure. Great to have you with us, congressman. All of the best.

ELLISON: Thanks, Ed.

SCHULTZ: Now let‘s get some rapid-fire response from our panel on these stories. On the republican outcry over Juan Williams‘ firing. Harry Reid hits back at Sharron Angle‘s call to man up. He says he‘s never had to man up in his life.

And a Tea Party House candidate says that down in Texas, that if conservatives can‘t take back the Congress by the ballot, they could move to plan B. A violent overthrow of the government.

With us tonight, Bill Press, nationally syndicated radio talk show host. And Ron Christie, republican strategist and he‘s the author of a new book, which we are promoting for nothing, but because he‘s here to do it.

(LAUGHTER)

“Acting White: The Curious History of a Racial Slur.” Gentlemen, good to have you with us on this evening. Holy smokes, what do you make of this constant rhetoric coming out of the Sharron Angle camp about manning up? Bill Press, is this the best place she‘s got?

BILL PRESS, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: First of all, anybody knows, Harry Reid knows he‘s got the cojones to lead, the cojones to win this race, Ed. But, you know what this is? Sharron Angle doesn‘t want to talk about the issues. She doesn‘t want the seniors in Nevada to know she wants to get of Social Security and Medicare. She doesn‘t want the veterans to know she wants to get rid of the V.A. She doesn‘t want all of those guys at that energy lab, talked about the top of the show to know, she wants to shutdown the Department of Education and the Department of Energy. So, she‘s mimicking Sarah Palin and coming up with—using this man up, man up, man up, man up. I think Harry Reid was right, she is extreme, she is dangerous, and God, she‘s a colossal embarrassment, even to Ron Christie.

RON CHRISTIE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, I think Harry Reid does needs to man up. I mean, Nevada has the highest unemployment rate in the United States and when you have a state that has over 12 percent unemployment, he‘s the Senate majority leader, it‘s his responsibility to try to get America out of this recession and to create jobs and I think that he and the president and the speaker have failed in that regard. She‘s not too far out of mainstream. You know, you keep hearing “extreme,” well I think it‘s extreme that the Democrats have spent nearly a trillion dollars in the last couple of years and they‘ve promised us, if we just pass the stimulus.

SCHULTZ: Well the broader issue is the unemployment is high in Nevada but number one industry in that state is tourism. And you know, if your number one industry is tourism and if you‘ve got a recession, it‘s all going to be downhill for the state‘s economy. The second piece of the economy is mining and the third is agriculture. So the state gets hit hard, is that Harry Reid‘s fault?

CHRISTIE: Part of it is.

SCHULTZ: Part of it.

CHRISTIE: I mean, you have a president of the United States who said that people shouldn‘t be flying their jets and they shouldn‘t be going to Nevada and they shouldn‘t be going to gamble. If I were Harry Reid, I would have said, Mr. President, this is our livelihood and you‘re telling people not come to my state, that‘s ridiculous. That‘s why he needs to man up.

PRESS: Can I just point something out here. I think it‘s very curious that Ron goes right away to jobs. Yes, I think that jobs is the number one issue in Nevada, and Sharron Angle said, as the United States senator, it would not be her job to do anything about jobs. So you‘ve got one guy who‘s fighting for jobs for Nevada. And another woman, if God forbid, she were elected, who says isn‘t my job. I‘m not worried about it. I mean that‘s the contrast.

CHRISTIE: If he‘s fighting for jobs, Bill Press, my friend, he‘s done a terrible job. They have the highest unemployment in this country.

PRESS: At least, he‘s fighting for it. She wouldn‘t even fight for them. You don‘t get my point. Listen to Sharron Angle.

CHRISTIE: His fight has helped bankrupt this country with a trillion-dollar stimulus bill that‘s failed, and have been an utter failure.

SCHULTZ: Well, Ron, statistically, it has not been an utter failure but how she handles the media, here‘s Sharron Angle just shushing off a reporter. Here it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sharron, can we talk to you about why...

SHARRON ANGLE ®, NEVADA SENATE CANDIDATE: I have to get on but I just want to ask you to get out of vote. OK? Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

SCHULTZ: Now I ran into Sharron Angle yesterday. I want both of you guys to know, I got more than a wave. She actually gave me a comment. But the point—but, Ron, you have to admit that her answers are not of substance and she‘s got millions of dollars just attacking Harry Reid. When are we going get the beef from this candidate?

CHRISTIE: What are you talking about, Ed? I actually watched the debate between Sharron Angle and Harry Reid and I thought.

CHRISTIE: .for being a majority leader of the United States Senate, he came across as being weak. This guy‘s supposed to be a boxer. He didn‘t know what he was talking about, he was uninspired. She actually talked about trying to reduce the size and the scope of government. She actually talked about the fact that Americans want their country back. She actually talked about lot things that resonate with a lot of people that is why Harry Reid is going down.

PRESS: Ron, we know her agenda.

(CROSSTALK)

SCHULTZ: She‘s borderline candidate. She‘s borderline idiot. She—

I tell you what.

CHRISTIE: Oh, borderline idiot, oh, OK.

SCHULTZ: Yes.

CHRISTIE: Personal attacks. I can start telling you who the idiots are in the Democratic Party but again, I‘d rather not throw names. I‘d rather talk about substance. You guys love the.

SCHULTZ: No, that‘s a description, that‘s not a name. This woman is not smart. She‘s not up on the issues.

CHRISTIE: How do you know? Ed, how do you know?

SCHULTZ: Because I‘ve paid a lot of attention to her and I was out there, Ron.

He was asked by a reporter in 2010, if he would urge violence as an option?

Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN BRODEN ®, TEXAS POLITICAL CANDIDATE: The option is on the table. I don‘t think that we should ever remove anything from the table. As it relates to our liberties and our freedoms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Now, Ron, what do you think of this guy?

CHRISTIE: All right, Ed, here we go. Wait for it. This guy is an idiot. This guy is an idiot. I understand if you have polite disagreements and all three of us can agree to disagree. But violence is never the action particularly not someone who is running for federal office. This guy needs to go.

PRESS: Well, I love it. Here are these guys, they talk about the free market, what is the free market mean, Ed? It means that if you‘re small business or any big business, you can hire or fire, that‘s where it starts, anybody you want. They fire somebody that they like and right away, they want to take him over. Come on, Ed, this is crazy.

CHRISTIE: Well, Juan Williams is my friend and has been for 20 years. If you look at the entire comment of what he said, it wasn‘t bigoted. He made very clear that he didn‘t want people to take his comments that way. I think NPR overreacted. “Washington Post” said it, Eugene Robinson, a liberal columnist from “The Post” said it. I think this is a really, really bad situation for NPR, and I think that Juan Williams is going to do just fine but his comments and taking in their entirety were not bigoted.

PRESS: Let me tell you, Ron.

SCHULTZ: I am glad you think that he‘ll be fine, Ron, he had the $2 million deal.

PRESS: That‘s right, I‘ll take the $2 million deal.

CHRISTIE: No one should try to stifle speech. Be a conservative or liberal speech. And when you look at absolutely everything that he said, not just playing the snippet that you gave, Ed. I think what he said, that‘s how he felt. No one complained when Jesse Jackson said, he felt better when he turned around and he saw that it was group of white people rather than black people coming behind him at night. No one got on Jesse Jackson.

SCHULTZ: He‘s not a broadcaster with responsibility.

CHRISTIE: Well.

SCHULTZ: He‘s not a broadcaster with responsibility. He‘s not working for NPR, there‘s a totally different—totally different issues there.

PRESS: Hey, the other thing, Ron is that Juan Williams was saying that bill—the context is, he was saying Bill O‘Reilly was right, when Bill O‘Reilly basically said, all Muslims are terrorists.

CHRISTIE: No.

(CROSSTALK)

SCHULTZ: Gentlemen, good to have you with us on a Friday. Bill Press and Ron Christie. Gentlemen, good to have you with us.

Coming up, Christine O‘Donnell gave us a full week of psycho talk, maybe that‘s a hidden strategy? I don‘t think so. Bill Clinton is going to be in Minnesota campaigning against Michele Bachmann. And Sherrod Brown will talk about the president‘s impact on the campaign trail. That‘s next, stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: And it‘s not too late to let us know what you think. Tonight‘s text survey question is—do you think Sharron Angle lies about Harry Reid? Text A for yes, text B for no to 622-639. We got the results coming up. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: And in my “Playbook” tonight, President Obama will be in Nevada tonight to fire up the base for Harry Reid and get the vote out. But Democrats are already proving the establishment wrong this election cycle. In the battleground states like Nevada and Ohio, Democrats are voting early at a real torrid pace. So much for the progressive base staying home.

Let me bring in Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown. Senator, good to have you with us tonight.

SCHULTZ: I want to show you the scene here. This is President Obama, 37,000 people at the University of Southern California. The president is drawing crowds wherever he goes, and in certain states like in Pennsylvania and in Wisconsin and in Colorado, you see senators who are closing the gap. What do you think, Senator Brown, do you think that President Obama can close the deal for Harry Reid in Nevada?

BROWN: Well, President Obama is closing the deal and so are progressive Democrats in people getting out. We had 37,000 and one people show up at the oval Ohio State the other day. The largest crowd, I said that because it‘s one more than southern California than USC, but we had—over 35,000 people, largest crowd that appeared in front of President Obama since the inauguration. I was in Cincinnati today at 8:15 in the morning, and there were 30 volunteers already at headquarters for Congressman Steve Driehaus and State Representative Connie Pillich to get the vote out for the Democrats. This whole—the pundits talking about the enthusiasm gap, they‘re wrong. I mean, you wouldn‘t see this kind of turnout among Democrats. We have early voting in Ohio. We‘ve already been voting for, I think, three weeks, three and a half weeks. We‘re seeing a good turnout on the democratic side. Maybe even a great turnout on the democratic side. The excitement buildings and the pundits are wrong about the enthusiasm gap and I‘ve seen far too many examples in Ohio for me to believe anything otherwise.

SCHULTZ: Senator, how aggressive do you think President Obama should get with this rogue candidate like Sharron Angle, who‘s got $40 million behind her, who is taking all the personal shots and lies at Harry Reid, should the president come out and say that she‘s dangerous and an embarrassment? What do you think?

BROWN: I think the president focuses on what she wants to do. I don‘t think that you need to say embarrassment or dangerous. I think you just say, she‘s got the republican playbook, privatize Social Security, privatize Medicare, trade agreements that outsource jobs, more tax cuts for the rich. More deregulation Wall Street. That‘s the thing. In every state, the Republicans want power but they want to go back to the same policies. And nobody agrees with those bankrupt bush policies. Interestingly in Ohio, the Senate candidate doesn‘t even mention that he used to work for the Bush administration. He was a prominent member of the administration. These people are all tied in to these—you know, I don‘t want to look back but I want to learn from looking back and learn from history because it‘s predictably the future and they‘re offering nothing new from the same bromides and the same failed policies in the first part of this decade. You know that.

SCHULTZ: And what are your thoughts on Bill Clinton? We haven‘t seen him work this hard since he was running for office.

BROWN: Yes, Clinton is great.

SCHULTZ: I mean he‘s out there.

BROWN: Yes, we want him back. I mean, the president is going to come, president was in Columbus last Sunday. He‘s coming back to Cleveland soon and two, or three days before the election.

SCHULTZ: Yes.

BROWN: We want to see Bill Clinton here too. I mean, he turns out huge crowds and people listen to him and I hope he comes in too.

SCHULTZ: Tarryl Clark is a heck of a candidate here in Minnesota, and former President Bill Clinton is going to be here campaigning against Michele Bachmann. It‘s going to be interesting. Sherrod Brown, great to have you with us tonight. Thanks so much.

BROWN: Thanks.

Also, in my “Playbook” tonight, Christine O‘Donnell came out of hiding this week to participate in a few debates. Here‘s just a taste of O‘Donnell‘s disastrous week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINE O‘DONNELL ®, DELAWARE SENATE CANDIDATE: Where in the constitution is the separation of church and state?

HOLLAND COOKE, TALK RADIO CONSULTANT: Two debates, two headline-quality gaffes, but underneath all of the applause lines and all the horse laughs she‘s getting, you‘ve got to ask yourself, what‘s the case they‘re making about no separation of church and state? Where are they going with this? These Tea Partiers are what you call cafeteria constitutionalists. They‘re real good at reciting the second amendment but in that first debate, she hadn‘t heard the first sentence in the first amendment. So there‘s that but what is the underlying appeal of denying separation of church and state? This is very troubling.

SCHULTZ: You would think that she would just keep it local when she comes to politics and pick the democrat from her own state that she might be able to work with. What do you think?

COOKE: The question was a valentine. It was a give me. It was a softball. That‘s all she had to say is the name of the other senator from Delaware. But this was a rough week for her. And I think what you‘re seeing is what we read a couple of days ago in “The Wall Street Journal,” certainly not the liberal house organ, but “The Wall Street Journal” made the point that Christine O‘Donnell is hurting righties in races in other states. All politics is no longer local. And frankly, these debates in Delaware are probably changing no minds. My friends in Delaware find her an embarrassment. And the people who feel sorry for her are going to continue to support her.

SCHULTZ: Yes.

COOKE: But all politics is no longer local and her antics, Sharron Angle, Rand Paul, all these bloopers may be why you see the lines crossing in the polling. If the election were a month ago, these caricature candidates would have done better. I think people are sobering up.

SCHULTZ: Coming up, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie says, he won‘t run for vice president but he‘s not going to be anybody‘s number two. Lionel takes him on. Next in “Club Ed.” Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back. If it‘s Friday, it‘s time for “Club Ed.” Tonight‘s New York‘s Pix 11 commentator Lionel, you can find him on lionelmedia.com and he‘s always waving at the crowd. I love this guy.

LIONEL, NEW YORK‘S PIX 11 COMMENTATOR: Thanks, Ed, I love you, Ed.

“Club Ed,” Ed. I‘ve made it, ma. “Club Ed.”

(LAUGHTER)

SCHULTZ: Well, now you do get—you do get a plaque for this. I want you to know that.

SCHULTZ: All right, Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, what do you make of this guy? Is he the real deal, or is he just a bully?

LIONEL: He‘s a star. New Jersey, the garden state, a beautiful part of the country. You have the housewives, you‘ve got “The Shore,” you‘ve got “The Sopranos,” and now here he comes, blustery, big, here he is, Chris Christie, mad and PO‘ed, at what we don‘t know. He‘s America—Ed, ask yourself this question. What would America do today with class-acts like Ronald Reagan or John Kennedy, call them stiff, boring. This is a country that wants to have beer with the president. Chris Christie is great. Nobody knows. First of all, nobody‘s going to vote in the first place but they like him because he‘s rough and tough. He‘s like on (INAUDIBLE) Cartwright on steroids. He‘s an Ed Schultz without the posses. He‘s a big guy with a big gut, and big mouth and they don‘t know what the hell he‘s talking about but he‘s exciting. And that‘s what we need, Ed, exciting. Harry Reid—come on, bless his heart. Ed, Harry, code. Somebody code. Stand back. I‘m sorry.

LIONEL: Harry Reid is a great man. Harry Reid died in 1978 but nobody told him. They‘re probating the will. I mean, bless his heart. They‘re reading the will. Harry says, words of my death have been exaggerated. Come on, Ed, next topic. “Club Ed.”

LIONEL: Who cares about that? Can I talk about Christine O‘Donnell, please?

SCHULTZ: Sure, you have 30 seconds on O‘Donnell.

LIONEL: Christine O‘Donnell does not want to win anything. The worst thing—if you want to kill, God forbid, Christine O‘Donnell and say Christine guess what? You won, boom. She doesn‘t want to win. Whatever she says, think about this, they told her, Christine, whatever you say, just give them the old line about you know the separation clause. There‘s nothing in the constitution about the air force either, Christine. Don‘t worry about it. Now, no matter what she says, no matter how stupid and inconceivably insane it is, she goes to her constituents, see, they hate us. Because I‘m just a simple guy.

SCHULTZ: Good to have you with us tonight on “Club Ed.” That plaque is in the mail, buddy.

LIONEL: Yes. I love you, Ed.

SCHULTZ: Tonight in our text survey, I asked you, do you think Sharron Angle lies about Harry Reid? Eighty eight percent of you said yes, 12 percent of you said, no. That‘s THE ED SHOW. I‘m Ed Schultz. Chris Matthews with “HARDBALL” starts right now on the place for politics, MSNBC. Have a great weekend.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.